Van hits divider, flips on Yamuna expressway; 10 injured

The victims, 10 students of Galgotias University, said the shared Eeco van was speeding and flipped several times before coming to a stop.

noidaUpdated: May 17, 2019 11:02 IST

Shafaque Alam Hindustan Times, Noida

The victims said the shared Eeco van was speeding and flipped several times before coming to a stop.(Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Ten students of Galgotias University were injured after a speeding Maruti Suzuki Eeco van they were travelling in lost control, hit a divider and overturned on the Yamuna Expressway on Thursday .

The victims said the shared Eeco van was speeding and flipped several times before coming to a stop.

Two of the injured students were said to be in a critical condition, with doctors saying that one may even lose a leg.

According to the police, the 10 students had boarded the shared Eeco van from outside Botanical Garden Metro station for Galgotias University, around 40km away.

One of the students, Paridhi Thakur, a first-year BBA student, escaped with minor injuries on her right leg. “I live in East Delhi. I reached Botanical Garden Metro and boarded the shared Eeco around 11am. They charge Rs 45 per passenger for the 40km distance,” she said.

The seven-seater Eeco was overloaded with 10 passengers, against permit norms, at the time of the mishap.

Thakur said that the Eeco was running at a speed of over 100kmph on the expressway when the accident took place around 11.30am.

“We had repeatedly been asking the driver to slow down. But our pleas fell on deaf ears. Around 200 metres before Galgotias University, the driver failed to negotiate a left turn and hit the median, leading to the accident,” Thakur said. The permissible speed limit for cars on the expressway is 100 kmph.

The vehicle flipped several times before coming to a stop, trapping all the occupants. Some passersby informed the police and initiated rescue.

Dr Meenakshi, casualty medical officer, Kailash Hospital, said that two of the injured — Aryan and Amisha — were critical. “Aryan has sustained critical injuries and his left leg might need to be amputated. Amisha has received critical injuries in her lower abdomen. She has also suffered a shock and is in the ICU,” she said.

The other students received injuries in their head and body, with some suffering multiple fractures. The Eeco van was mangled after the accident.

Chandan Kumar Yadav, a Btech second year student who was injured in the accident and was admitted in the ICU said ,“I usually take a bus or a shared cab from Botanical Garden. The driver was speeding which led to the accident. I have informed my parents and they are on the way.”

A Dankaur police official said the Maruti Eeco was registered in the name of one Gopal Sharma on May 19, 2018.

The police are trying to trace the vehicle owner and the driver.

A Galgotias University spokesperson said that the University is extending all support to the students and their family members.